Warnings of Monkeypox went unheeded as scientists around the world began to uncover clues about the disease’s origin. Here are the latest updates on the monkeypox virus.
As cases and news of monkeypox spread globally, scientists are investigating the unprecedented outbreak. Read on for updates about tracking, origins and treatment updates concerning monkeypox.
Warnings of Monkeypox Ignored
The former director of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, Chikwe Ihekweazu, told STAT News that Nigeria sought global help beginning in 2017 for an unprecedented outbreak of monkeypox virus. The outbreak continues to this day, with the country detecting 558 suspected cases, according to WHO.
“Since September 2017, Nigeria has continued to report cases of monkeypox,” WHO states. “From September 2017 to 30 April 2022, a total of 558 suspected cases have been reported from 32 states in the country. Of these, 241 were confirmed cases, and among these, there were eight deaths recorded.”
The outbreak in Nigeria has a lot of parallels to those seen in other countries. The infectious cases began out of the blue in multiple parts of the country and spread person-to-person, a transmission pattern that is unusual for the virus. Ihekweazu tried to raise awareness of the issue before the COVID-19 pandemic, even discussing the possible sexual transmission of the disease which has become a key hypothesis in the current spread of the virus. Unfortunately, his warnings and interest in the issue were swept to the wayside. Ihekweazu has since been named to head WHO’s department of pandemic and epidemic intelligence.
Scientists Commence Gene Sequencing
Scientists globally are beginning to uncover clues about the origin of the current outbreak by conducting gene sequencing. By sequencing a skin lesion sample from a patient in Portugal, researchers from the National Health Institute Doutor Ricardo Jorge in Lisbon said that the recent strain of the circulating virus likely belongs to the West African clade.
Additionally, the researchers determined that the virus is most closely related to cases that spread from Nigeria to the U.K., Israel and Singapore in 2018 and 2019. The World Health Organization has reported that there is no evidence that the virus has mutated.
The draft genome was published online last week and provides helpful information, but questions about the true origin and spread of the virus remain unanswered.
Tecovirimat Useful in Treating Monkeypox
SIGA Technologies’ tecovirimat (marketed as TPOXX in the U.S.), an antiviral drug used for smallpox, was the focus of a study completed in the U.K.
The retrospective study was published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases and studied patients who had been treated for monkeypox. Three patients were treated with brincidofovir, a smallpox antiviral, and the authors reported that the treatment had to be stopped due to elevated liver enzymes which indicates liver inflammation or injury. One patient was treated with tecovirimat and reported no adverse events, shedding of viral DNA for only ten days and had a shorter duration of symptoms than other patients included in the study.
Tecovirimat is approved by the European Medicines Agency to treat monkeypox, but in the U.S., TPOXX is only approved to treat smallpox. However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved an intravenous formulation of the drug, increasing its availability and access for off-label use in patients with monkeypox.
Roche Develops PCR Tests to Track Monkeypox
Roche announced on Wednesday that it has developed three virus kits in response to developing monkeypox concerns.
The three kits offer unique approaches to tracking the virus. One kit detects orthopoxviruses, including all monkeypox viruses from both West African and Central African clades while a second kit is more specific, detecting monkeypox viruses only. A third kit offers a combination of both tests, detecting orthopoxviruses and providing information on if the monkeypox virus is present or not.
The tests rely on quantitative PCR technology and are currently available for research use in the majority of countries worldwide.
Hyundai Bioscience Entering Race to Develop Treatment
On Thursday, Hyundai Bioscience announced that it is headed to the FDA to request fast-track processing for its broad-spectrum antiviral drug candidate CP-COV03.
The therapeutic is an oral antiviral medication that is intended for the treatment of monkeypox, although it was developed for the treatment of COVID-19. Hyundai is hoping to take advantage of the FDA’s Animal Rule, which allows the fast-track of new drugs and approval to be based upon efficacy data solely obtained from animal models.
Recently published research has shown that niclosamide, the active ingredient of CP-COV03, has excellent efficacy against monkeypox types of viruses. The therapeutic is considered to be a universal antiviral drug, useful against many types of viruses.
Monkeypox vs COVID-19
With new cases cropping up each day, many people are worried that monkeypox is the new COVID-19. However, experts are saying the virus does not pose the same threat as COVID-19.
Head of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, Richard Hatchett, told CNBC that while the epidemic and spread of monkeypox is concerning, it is a very different disease than COVID-19. Namely, the disease is not spread through respiratory transmission the same way as COVID-19.
However, even though the disease is likely not to become a worldwide pandemic, experts still warn and caution citizens to take steps to prevent themselves from becoming infected.
